Lactation period brooder

ABSTRACT

A liquid animal feeder comprising compartments in which there are no openings during operation through which a pig less than three weeks old can extend its entire head, the liquid animal feeder having a moving feed delivery unit deliverying food to a row of compartments at feed delivery positions at least sufficiently close to the inner side of each compartment that pigs less than three weeks old can drink from said positions, the liquid animal feeder having means making possible delivery of feed to vertically spaced rows or compartments from the same feed delivery unit, such unit being mounted on a track having a straight side for serving a straight row of compartments, the quantity of feed delivered at each compartment being selectively controllable by convenient control means.

United States Patent Wienert [451 May 23, 1972 54 LACTATION PERIODBROODER 3,312,194 4/1967 Ernst ..119/22 [72] Inventor: Lloyd C. Wiener,Pappillion, Nebr. 3,361,115 1/ 1968 Conover ..1 19/ 18 [73] Assignee:Wilson & Co., Inc., Chicago, Ill. FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 720664 11/1965 Canada 22 F1 d. F b. 10 1971 I 1 e 325,006 12 1902 France[21] Appl. No.: 114,364

Primary Examiner-Hugh R, Chamblee Related Appllcamm DataAttomey-Henderson & Strom C ti ti f S 7 [63] dgrrliegiua on 0 er No 62,082, Oct 2, 1967, aban ABSTRACT A liquid animal feeder comprisingcompartments in which [52] US. Cl ..1l9/18, ll9/5l.5, 119/52 B, thereare no openings during operation through which a pig 1 19/71 less thanthree weeks old can extend its entire head, the liquid [51] Int. Cl..A0lk 05/00, A01k 09/00 animal feeder having a moving feed deliveryunit deliverying [58] Field of Search ..119/18, 22, 51, 51.5, 51.11,food to a row of compartments at feed delivery positions at 119/52 B 71least sufficiently close to the inner side of each compartment that pigsless than three weeks old can drink from said posi- 56 References Citedtions, the liquid animal feeder having means making possible delivery offeed to vertically spaced rows or compartments UNITED STATES PATENTSfrom the same feed delivery unit, such unit being mounted on a trackhaving a straight side for serving a straight row of com- SCOQpartments, the q y f feed delivered at each p 36'621 H1951 "119,51 mentbeing selectively controllable by convenient control 3,097,627 7/1963Garcia ....l19/51.1l means 3,204,607 9/1965 Arnold et al.......119/5l.11 3,228,375 1/1966 Philippe ..1 19/22 X 27 Claims, 24Drawing Figures Q30 782 O qa 932 922 9/0 I000 92 r M04 /400 q 900 200 0I 934 776 8 2030 I I I 2500 942 K 11 2 s 122 51 I 1 952 I I 946 A 74/ l0 2a 7 1 I 1 3 2 L E-3 l 15 PATENTED MAY 2 3 I972 sum 01 IJF 10-INVENTOR.

LLOYD C. WI ENERT PATENTEDMAYUIBYZ 3.664802 sum an 0F 10;

INVENTOR. LLOYD C. WIENERT 'P'ATENTEBMAY 23 I972 sum 08 0F 10 1 FIG. IO'

FIG l2 IN VEN TOR.

LLOYD C. WIENERT PATENTEDMAY 23 I972 saw 07 or 10 .LJLJ W H WE, 10

FIG. I3

FIG. 23

INVENTOR. LLOYD C. WIENERT PATENTEmmzamz 3,564,302

snm 100F10 INVENTOR. LLOYD C. WIENERT LACTATION PERIOD BROODER Thisapplication is a continuation of Ser. No. 672,082, filed Oct. 2, 1967now abandoned.

COMPARISON WITH THE PRIOR ART In the prior art there has been nosuccessful automatic feeder for small animals in which the same feeddelivery unit serves animals in successive compartments.

The patent to Garcia, US. Pat. No. 3,097,627 issued July 16, I963 titledAutomatic Time Operated Feeding Means for Successively Feeding Animalsin a Plurality of Stalls was for feeding calves and the calves couldprotrude their entire heads from the compartments in order to drink froma common nipple on a carrier mounted on a circular track. Such aprinciple would not work with many of the smaller animals such as pigsbecause whenever a pig can insert its head through an opening, then itsentire body can pass through and the pig a escape perhaps to die.

In the Garcia patent the delivery unit rotates in a circle,necessitating circular compartment arrangements. This creates largeamounts of waste space in buildings that are always rectangular andoften narrow and long.

It is an object of this invention to provide a solution for the purposeof delivering feed to successive compartments disposed in a straightrow, and a further objective is to deliver to compartments disposed instraight rows with the delivery unit following an endless track.

A problem with a system such as in Garcia is in the presence of trackway means on the floor where it can be tripped over by an operator orpeople viewing a machine at a farm installation or at fairs. It is anobject to provide a feed delivery unit completely suspended from overhead track means so that the floor can be free of obstructions.

A further object is to provide a construction in which the area betweencompartments that face each other is substantially open, and as theswath of the feed delivery unit takes up a minimum of space to eliminatethe greater space consumption of a swinging boom as in the Garciapatent.

A particular object is to provide a feed delivery system which depositsfeed at each compartment so that the animal in a compartment can bedrinking or eating even at a time when an animal in the next compartmentis being delivered its ration of food. Particularly accomplished bymeans providing the advantage that the animals can eat within theircompartments so that they cannot escape and so that an opening in acompartment, necessary for the delivery of food therethrough, need neverbe adjusted in size as the animal grows.

A further object is to provide means for treating each animalindividually for automatically delivering to each one a differentquantity of food if desired at each passing of the delivery unit.

A particular object is to provide means for making it possible for thesame food delivery unit to deliver food to each one of multiple levelsof compartments, eliminating the need for having a complete fooddelivery unit for each compartment level, which latter in the case ofthree levels would involve the expense and maintainence of threecomplete food delivery units.

A still further object is to provide a machine which will keep oneanimal from competing for another animals feeding station, since pigshave been known to be true to their name and dominate more than theirshare, causing weaker pigs to be runted out.

Another object is to provide a frame arrangement allowing for easyremoval of both compartments and excrement pans so that both can becleaned at a convenient place, perhaps with a pressure hose or steam,and disinfected, such pans continuously draining so as to reducehumidity.

A particular object is to provide an economical and effective track andpulley arrangement in which a drive pulley impinges upon edges of thetrack whereby if desired both can be economically made of metal andstill the track will be sufficient.

A further object is to provide a liquid animal feeder having manyfeatures which would be useful in feeding larger animals such as calveswhich have bodies much larger than their heads, and also having featuresparticularly valuable in feeding all sorts of smaller animalscharacterized by having heads so large that whenever their heads can beinserted through an escape opening they are able to pull their entirebodies through that opening.

The following drawings and description show examples only, it isunderstood that this invention is protected against changes therefromwithin the scope of the following claims.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the feeder of this invention, one of thecompartment doors being shown partially opened in dotted lines.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail ofa portion of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken in enlarged detail by removing theforward half of a portion of FIG. 3 and showing the remainder insection.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line l010 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified embodiment of aliquid feeding station.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 12-12 atFIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13a is a fragmentary view inside elevation of a second modifiedembodiment of a feeding station.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line 1414 of FIG. 13a.

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view of the feed delivery unit.

FIG. 16 is an end view of the track means.

FIG. 17 is a top plan view of the invention showing the track means andfeed delivery unit.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view taken along the line l818 in FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary wiring diagram of the pre-settable controlassembly.

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the feed delivery unit.

FIG. 21 is an alternate viewing diagram for the liquid feed mechanism.

FIG. 22 is a viewing diagram for the day pellet feed mechanism.

FIG. 23 is a second alternate viewing diagram for the liquid feedmechanisms.

The liquid animal feeder of this invention generally indicated at 10 inFIG. 1 comprises a compartment structure generally indicated at 12comprising a plurality of compartments 14 for baby animals. Each of thecompartments 14 has a forward wall 20 having a feed unit receivingopening 24 therethrough, the openings 24 being interconnected andcontinuous so that they define a feed unit receiving slot 30 extendingcompletely along a row 36 of side-by-side compartments 14, the row 36being horizontally elongated for extending in a horizontal plane wherebythe slot 30 is horizontally elongated. There can be many tiers ofvertically spaced horizontal rows 36 of compartments 14, a lower tierbeing indicated at 40, a middle tier at 42 and an upper tier at 44 inFIG. 2, the number of possible tiers being variable.

An automatic feed unit is generally indicated at and can be disposedbetween the row of compartments 36 and another row of compartments 54,the rows 36 and 54 being parallel and spaced as seen in top plan view.No compartments are placed at the ends of the space between the rows 36and 54 in order to permit access to the area 60 for servicing.Compartments 14 which are disposed alongside each other on the samelevel and in the same tier are separated by separation wall or side wallmeans 64 each of which has a notch or notched means 66 extendingthereinto a substantial distance from those forward sides of each whichare disposed adjacent the forward walls 20 in which the feed unitopening 24 of each is disposed so that a nipple of conventional softrubberlike resilient nature and best seen at 70 can extend a substantialdistance into each of the compartments 14 of a tier 40, 42, or 44 forfeeding a baby animal in each compartment and so that the nipple 70 canhorizontally pass from one compartment 14 to another in the same tier inan uninterrupted and smooth horizontal line without interruption fromthe various side walls or separation walls 64. There is a nipple 70 foreach tier of compartments and each nipple 70 is attached to a liquidfeed heating chamber 76 heated by a heating unit 78 extending throughits underside which receives power as later described.

Above each liquid feed or milk formula heating chamber housing 76 is avalve assembly 80 having a valve assembly housing 84 which is attachedto the upper side of the chamber 76, the interior 88 of the lower end ofthe valve housing 84 being connected by an opening 90 to the interior ofthe chamber 76 and the arrangement is such that milk formula can flowfrom a tank 96 through passage means 98 into the valve housing 84 andthrough the opening 90 in the upper side of the chamber 76.

Within the valve housing 84 is a metering valve 100 which is adapted tomove upwardly and downwardly and which has frustoconical upright wallmeans at which is constricted at its lower side and is adapted to fit acomplementarily shaped frustoconical surface 112 of the inside wall 114of the housing 84. The valve or valve stem 100, when seated, shuts offthe passageway means 98 which enters at the frustoconical surface 112.

The metering valve 100 is urged downwardly by a nut on a shaft 134 whichvertically reciprocates, the shaft 134 being connected to valve controlmeans 136, later described. The shaft 134 extends upwardly through anupper end member 138 of the valve housing 84 and reciprocatestherethrough with a spring 140 in the housing 84 and engages the end orcap 138 and at its other end pressing downwardly on the valve 100 tourge it into seated position.

The valve 100 is urged toward an open position by a lower springdisposed around the shaft 134, which latter extends completely throughthe valve 100 in a slidable manner, the spring 150 engaging theunderside of the valve 100 at one of its ends and engaging at itsopposite end an annular stop member 152 in fixed position with respectto the housing 84 and having an opening 156 vertically therethroughloosely fitting the shaft 134 so that milk formula can pass through theopening 156 therebetween.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that a resilient plug 154 is fixedto the lower end of the shaft 134 so that at times when the shaft 134 isin an upper position for allowing formula to pass through the passage98, the opening 156 will be closed by the plug 154 whereby a meteredamount of milk formula enters the metering chamber portion of the insideof the housing 84.

As the formula enters the chamber portion 170 (FIG. 3), air is pushedout and passes outwardly through an exit 174 into a tube 176 into afloat chamber 178 of a float valve housing 180 in which a float 182 canfloat on formula entering the chamber 178 causing an air bleeder valveattached to the float 182 to close an air bleeder opening 194 to preventformula from passing out of the opening 194 and yet permitting air topass through the opening 194 sufficient for the filling of formulametering chamber 170.

Referring now to FIG. 3, it will be seen that each formula tank 96 ismounted on a hollow post 200 of an automatically moving carrier 210which has a frame means comprising the post 200 and the tank 96 to whichthe control lever 136 is pivotally attached at 137. The upper end of theshaft 134 is connected by a sliding pin 220 to the lever 136 with thepin riding in a horizontally elongated slot 224, the lever 136'extending horizontally away from the pin 137 then downwardly as seen at228 with the roller 230 rotatably mounted on the lower end of the lever136 and rotating in a vertical plane for engaging a track 234 fixed tothe forward side wall 20 of each compartment, the track having ahorizontal upper surface 240 at all places along its length except inplaces at which there is an upwardly extending protrusion 242 whichwould cause the passing roller 230 to move vertically upward momentarilyas will cause the shaft 134 to move up sufficiently to cause theresilient plug 154 (FIG. 4) to close the passage 156 and to cause thepassage means 98 to be open to allow formula to enter in the meteringchamber portion 170.

The longitudinal length of the protrusion 242 is sufficient to hold thevalve open long enough for the metering It will be understood that eachrow 36 (FIG. 1) of compartments 14 has its trackway 240 and that eachcompartment 14 has its own protrusion 242 on that side of its first sidewall 64' which is approached first by the moving nipple 70 as the nippletravels in the direction of the arrows 300.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the electrical system for control of the heatingunit 78 is accomplished through wires 310 and 312 which lead to the unit78 through a connection box 314, the wire 312 being in directcommunication with a power wire 320 from a power source, the other powerwire 322 from the same source leading to a suitable micro-switch 340which has a controlling element 342 facing the wall 20 where it tends toengage a micro-switch cam 346, there being a cam 346 in front of eachcompartment 14 and disposed directly beneath the respective metering camor metering protrusion 242 thereof. The micro-switch 340 is mounted bymeans 360 and by a metering valve mounting 362 which latter is connectedto the automatically moving carrier 210 in a suitable fashion such as bya bracket 370 connected to the hollow post 200.

The micro-switch cam 346 in FIG. 3 is understood to be horizontallyelongated in the direction parallel with the arrows 300 (FIG. 1) so asto cause a switch connection between the power wire 322 the micro-switch340 closed by the microswitch cam 346, a wire 380 leading from themicro-switch 340 to the connection box 314 and connected by the box 314to the wire 310, whereby the horizontal length of the microswitch cam346 is sufficient to hold the heating unit 78 in operation sufficient towarm the milk formula in the compartment 76 so that it is of the normaltemperature of the mother animal in nature of the baby animal receivedin the compartment 14.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that other tanks 96 can bemounted upon the same post 200 one above another, each connected to arespective nipple 70 by means as is shown in FIG. 3, whereby multiplefeeding units 50 are provided one above another, each serving adifferent tier of compartments 14.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that at the lower end of thepost 200 it is supported on a roller or carrier wheel 400 riding on ahorizontal surface 410 which can also form a floor for the support ofthe compartment system 12.

Up through the hollow post 200 is a drive shaft 450 having a lower gear452 on its lower end disposed in engagement with a set of teeth 456 of arack bar or rack track 470 fixed to the floor 410 and extendinghorizontally and having a generally rectangular shape and beingcontinuous and having two sides 474 and 476 disposed in spacedparallelism and two ends 480 and 482 disposed in spaced parallelism andat a right angle to the sides 476.

A holding roller 540 rolls along an opposite side of the track 470 andis pressed toward it by a roller mounting mechanism 580 including aspring 590 which serves to hold the gear 452 in engagement with thetrack 470.

At the upper end of the compartment group 12 is another similar racktrack 600 of identical shape to the track 470 and having teeth on itsinner side and being engaged by an upper gear 610 likewise fixed to theshaft 450, the rack track 600 being held stationary on bracket means 620attached to the compartment group 12, as best seen in FIG. 2.

A holding mechanism 690 similar to the mechanism 580 holds an upperpressure roller 692 ii place against the back side or outer side of theupper rack track 600.

The construction thus described assures that the post 200 will at alltimes move in a vertical plane because of the sychronization andregistry of position of the rack tracks 470 and 600 and the identicalsize of the gears 452 and 610. The upper end of the shaft 450 issuitably connected by drive chain means to the shaft 652 of a drivemotor 660 which is electrical, the motor 660 being mounted on a mountingbracket 664 fixed to the post 200, the motor 660 being driven by powerwire 680 leading to a power source whereby the motor 660 operatescontinually at a very low speed for causing the post with its nipples 70to pass each of the compartments 14 once in each hour and 51 minutes toapproximate the feeding time ofa mother sow.

The speed is such that each nipple 70 is in a given compartment 14approximately 3 minutes allowing the baby animal time to discover itspresence and to drink. A baby piglet can drink in less than l0 secondsto a stage of being fully fed.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that it is desirable that therespective charging of the metering chamber 170 occur at a sufficienttime before discharge of the chamber 170 and before operating of theheating means 78 so that the position of the formula metering cam 242and its roller 230 be disposed substantially forwardly in the timesequence of the position of the heating control micro-switch 340. Forthis reason, as seen in FIG. 10, the formula cams 242 are each disposedapproximately centrally between the partitions at the sides of eachcompartment 36 whereas the milk heating unit cam 346 can be disposed sothat it is engaged by its microswitch 340 in advance of the time atwhich the cam 242 is engaged by its roller 230. The position of the heatcontrol cam 346 can be approximately one-third of the way across acompartment 36 from that side of the compartment which is first passedby the nipple 70.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a wash water valve controlling micro-switch 760is shown supported from a bracket 762, which latter is best seen in FIG.1, attaches the micro-switch 760 to the post 200, which latter is squarein horizontal cross section and is seen in FIG. 1.

The micro-switch 760 has a plunger 770 which engages various downwardlyextending flanges 774 which extend downwardly from horizontallyextending support members 780,which latter are fixed to and supported bythe respective bracket means 620, whereby the flanges 774 can be calledwater control cam flanges 774 and are to be found one disposedimmediately on the inner side of each partition 64 or 641 which is onthe leading side of each compartment 36, the term leading meaning thatside of each compartment 36 which is first approached by the movingnipple 70.

At the end of the row of compartments 36 is a support bar 800 which ofU-shape in top plan view and which, as best seen in FIG. 1, is supportedon endmost ones of the bracket 620.

The horizontally extending support bar 800 supports on its underside adownwardly extending water control cam flange 802 arranged in a positionfor engaging the plunger 770 of the micro-switch 760 at times when theplunger 770 passes through the open area at the end of the row ofcompartments 36, the cam flange 802 continuing until it has extended allthe way around the end and overlaps the endmost part of the adjacent endof the row of compartments 54, whereby it serves to maintain themicro-switch 760 in a condition for maintaining the flow of water off sothat water from the nozzle 802 does not spray out all over the room aswould otherwise be the case and because of structure yet to bedescribed.

A similar U-shaped bar 820 is disposed at the opposite end of thestructure and extends between the opposite ends of the respective rowsof compartments 36 and 54 respectively having a similar water controlcam flange 822 likewise mounted in a position for engaging the plunger770 of the switch 760, to maintain the water 0E as it passes by theopposite end of the structure and between the rows of compartments 36and 54.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the nozzle 804 is suppliedby a pipe 806, which latter receives water from a pipe 808, but only attimes when a solenoid controlled valve 840, is open, the electricalpower for operating the solenoid valve 840 coming from power lines 850and 852, power to the valve 840 going directly to it by connection withthe power line 850.

The power line 852 extends to the micro-switch 760 and another line 854,as best seen in FIG. 2, leads from the microswitch 760 back to thesolenoid valve 840, best seen in FIG. 1, whereby the valve 840 ispowered for allowing its valve to open for water flow through to thenozzle 804 only at times when the micro-switch plunger 770 is not inengagement with a respective water control cam flange 774, 802, or 822.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a modification of the machine earlierdescribed is there shown and is generally indicated at 900 and is alsocalled a liquid animal feeder. The machine 900 has frame means generallyindicated at 910 preferably comprising a pair of upright posts 920disposed in a plane and spaced from a second pair of upright posts 922disposed in a plane parallel to the plane of the posts 920.

The posts 920 and 922 are respectively interconnected by upper framemembers 930 and 932, whereby the posts 920 are interconnected and theposts 922 are interconnected and the posts 922 are connected to theposts 920.

A plurality of compartments for animals are shown at 934 and aredisposed side by side in a horizontal row. The compartments 934 of a roware fixed together so that they form a rigid unit.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, there are six rows, three rows beingshown at 940, 941, and 942 on a left-hand side of the brooder 900 andsupported one above the other in spaced apart relation upon row supports946 which are fixed to and extend outwardly from the posts 922, thesupports 946 extending horizontally, whereby two supports 946 supporteach row in a horizontal position.

On the right-hand side of the brooder 900 are rows of compartments 950,951, and 952, which are supported on compartments supports 956 extendinginwardly of the brooder and horizontally from respective posts 920, inthe same manner as in FIG. 13A.

As seen in FIGS. 12 and 13A, one of six excrement pans 958 extend undereach row of compartments carried by excrement pan supports 959 whichlatter are arranged in pairs, one pair of supports 959 for each row ofcompartments, each support 952 being attached to one of the adjacentposts 920 or 922, as seen in FIG. 13 A.

The pan supports 959 are inclined from their upper inner ends downwardlyand outwardly toward the posts so that their substantially planar bottomwalls 960 incline outwardly toward the posts and are referably arrangedto incline also toward a suitable outlet opening in a vertical wall 964that surrounds a pan at its perimeter. Such an opening in the wall 964is for continuous drainage and an opening can be provided by allowing aslot to exist extending vertically down into and through the wall 964 ata corner, such as is seen at 966, whereby a continuous drainage occursand a catching pan or floor drain can be disposed as seen at 969 beneaththe openings 966, whereby moisture on the pan is controlled to regulatehumidity.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a horizontally extending track means is thereshown at 970, and the track 970 can be shown in detail in FIG. 18 and isseen to have a horizontal upper edge 972. Expressed in another way, theuppermost parts of the upper edge 972 extend in a horizontal plane. Thetrack 970 itself has side portions 976 which are spaced apart andparallel and extend along and are spaced somewhat inwardly from theinner sides of the compartments 934, whereby the sides 976 are disposedparallel to the rows of compartments.

The sides 976 extend the entire length of the rows and the two sides areconnected at their two ends respectively by curved portions 980 whichare preferably semi-circular, as best seen in FIG. 17.

The sides 976 are supported on hanger frame means 982 which latter isattached to and suspended from the horizontal frame members 930.

Referring to FIG. 12, it will be seen that in order to deliver feed toeach of the compartments 934, a feed delivery unit generally indicatedat 1000 is provided.

The feed delivery unit 1000 has a support shown at 1004, which lattercan be seen in FIG. 18 to have a pulley 1010 mounted thereon by means ofa horizontal shaft 1012 extending inwardly from the support 1004, thepulley being held in place by retainers 1020 so it cannot move axiallyof the shaft 1012. The pulley 1010 has an annular circumferential recess1024 therein and the side walls 1026 of the recess 1024 have a taperingshape in cross section when viewed along a plane extending through theaxis of the pulley wheel or along any plane extending parallel to avertical plane extending through the axle shaft 1012, and is best seenin FIG. 18. The side walls 1026 are more widely spaced at their outerends near the outer circumference of the pulley than they are at theirinner ends and the spacing of the side walls 1026 at the outer portionsof the pulley side walls 1026 is greater than the spacing of the sidesof the track means which latter are shown at 1030 and 1032. The upperside 972 can be seen to have two opposite downwardly extending sides1030 and 1030 and to have two opposite edges 1034 which are disposed inparallelism.

The edges 1034 and the spacing of the sides 1030 and 1039, especially inthe area of the pulley 1010 are substantially greater than the spacingof the inner portions 1040 of the pulley recess wall 1026, whereby asthe pulley rolls along the track means 970, it will grip the track meansfirmly and impinge thereon giving good traction, as is very important.

It was found in experiments that a pulley made of metal and a track madeof metal will not give good traction without the impingement afforded bythis shape of pulley. Economy was achieved by this means over much morecomplicated and costly ways of gaining traction.

The use of the rack bar 470 of FIG. 8 and the rack bar 600 of FIG. withtheir cog wheels 452 and 610 was a much more costly and earlier way ofgaining traction involving great manufacturing precision in manyrespects, especially the exact positioning of the rack bars area.

The pulley wheel system of FIG. 18 makes it unnecessary to have curvingrack bar means at the ends of the track and the semi-circular track ends980 are very important for good traction and dependable day-in andday-out operation.

Referring to FIG. 18, it will be noted that a large sprocket 1041rotates freely on the shaft 1012 and is fixed by suitable means 1042 tothe gear 1010 for driving the gear. The sprocket 1041 is driven by meansof a chain 1048 which extends around a smaller gear 1050 on a shaft 1054of a motor 1056, which latter is secured to the support 1004 by amounting means 1060.

A pair of horizontally spaced stabilizing pulleys 1070 and 1072 aremounted on shafts 1074 and 1076, which latter are on an arm 1078 fixedto the support 1004. The pulleys 1070 and 1072 rotate about verticalaxes and are spaced downwardly from the drive pulley 1010 and engageopposite side walls of the 970.

The motor 1056 continuously receives power through a cord 1064, whichlatter extends downwardly and inwardly therefrom toward the center ofthe trackway 970 where it is connected to a commutator assembly 1071,best seen in FIG. 17. The assembly 1070 is of a type for accomplishing acontinuous electrical connection between its imput cord 1072 and itselectrical output cord 1064, earlier described. In FIG. 17, imput cord1072 is shown broken away, but it will be understood that it can lead toan electrical outlet.

The commutator 1071 has an upper portion which is stationary and carriedby the frame member 1076, which latter is attached to the hanger framemeans 982, as best seen in FIG. 17. The cord 1064 has slack in it, asbest seen in FIG. 18, sufi'icient that the cord will permit the freetravel of a motor 1056 as it moves around the trackway on the support1004.

The feed delivery unit 1000 has a feed outlet 1200, best seen in FIG.13A, which moves with the feed delivery unit as it travels around thetrackway 970. The outlet 1200 moves along each of the compartments 934of the upper rows of compartments 942 and 952 and feed presentationmeans generally indicated at 1210 and of which the outlet 1200 forms apart is provided in operative correlation with the feed delivery unit1000 for receiving feed from the feed delivery unit 1000 and presentingthe feed into feed delivery positions, an example of which is theposition 1212 which is the upper side of the feed trough 1212 whichforms a part ofa container 1214.

Each container 1214 has a portion disposed inside a respectivecompartment and another portion 1216 disposed outside that samecompartment.

The portion 1216 is the outer part of a feed chute 1220. as seen in FIG.13A, and the feed chute 1220 also extends inwardly of the compartment934 through an opening 1230 in that side of the compartment which facesthe feed delivery unit 1000. The inner end 1224 of each feed chute 1220extends inwardly of the compartment 934 until it is above the trough.Each feed chute 1220 has side walls 1226 and a bottom wall 1228.

Although the top of the container 1214 provides a feed delivery position1212, another sort of a feed delivery position and equally fulfillingthat general term is provided by the tip of the nipple of themodification of FIG. 3.

In FIG. 15, a diagrammatic view is shown in which a first or upper rowof compartments 942 is spaced above a lower row 941, each has acontainer 1210 identically describable to the container 1210 of theupper row 942.

In FIG. 15, the containers 1210 of the top row 942 are disposedsubstantially in a row generally parallel to their container row 942 andthe containers 1210 in the lower row or second row 941 are disposed alsosubstantially in a row generally parallel to the containers 1210 in thetop row 942. A suitable receptacle 1260 is seen in FIG. 15 and it ispreferably a funnel, the receptacle 1260 being attached to the feeddelivery unit 1000 by means suitably mounted on its elongated support1004, as best seen in FIG. 15.

Such mounting preferably comprises one of a plurality of horizontalbrackets 1370 which latter are attached to a conduit 1372 extendingdownwardly from a funnel 1260, the bracket 1370 being pivotally attachedby a pin 1374 to an ear 1376 projecting outwardly from and fixed to thesupport 1004. The reason for the pivot pin 1374 is so that the bracket1370 can be swung to one side for disposing a funnel or receptacle 1260away from a container when desired.

As thus described it will be seen that the receptacle 1260 moves withthe feed delivery unit 1000 along one side of a row of compartments 942or 952. The receptacle 1260 is spaced beneath the outlet 1200 of thetube 1380, whereby at a certain time when the outside portion 1216 ofone of the containers 1210 in the first row of compartments 942 is notdisposed beneath and in the path of feed flowing from the outlet 1200,then at such certain times feed flowing from the outlet 1200 will fallby gravity downwardly into the open top of the receptacle 1260 and theconduit 1372 in communication with the bottom of the receptacle 1260will carry it downward into a position indicated by a sub-outlet 1384 atthe bottom of a conduit 1372 which is in a position disposed directlyabove the outside portion 1216 of one of the containers 1210 in a lowerrow 941 of containers at the said such certain times of feed delivery.

Referring to FIG. 13, it will be seen that the outside portions of thecontainers 1210 of the upper row 942 are disposed to the left andstaggered as seen in top plan view in FIG. 14 with respect to theoutside portions of the containers 1210 of the next lower row 941. It isbecause of the conception of this staggering that it is possible that attimes when the outlet 1384 of FIG. is disposed above a chute indicatedat B in FIG. 15, it therefore will be that there will be no chute A ofthe upper row 942 beneath the upper outlet 1200. This will simply causefeed from the outlet 1200 to by-pass and flow along the side of theupper chute A passing through the receptacle 1260 and the outlet 1384into the chute B.

By the same token, there are times when feed flowing through the outlet1384 will miss the chute B and will be caught by a receptacle 1260beneath the chute B, which latter has its own conduit 1372 leadingdownwardly to a container on the lowermost row of containers 940 and950.

A water tank 1400 (FIGS. 13 and mounted on the support 1004. The tank1400 has an outlet 1410 through which water flows through a pipe 1412 toa pump 1414, which latter is driven by a motor 1420 connected to thepump 1414.

The pump 1414 has an outlet line 1424 which has an open terminal end1430 disposed for emptying into a milk formula mixing chamber 1434mounted on a dry milk formula tank 1440 carried on the support 1004.

In FIG. 20, a portion of the tank 1440 is broken away showing itsinterior at 1442 and arrows 1450 indicate the flow of dry milk formulapowder from the chamber 1442 into a cylindrical auger housing 1452having an open top 1454 for allowing the milk formula to reach an auger1460 having a shaft 1462 received in bearings 1466 and driven by a motor1470.

Milk formula powder flowing from the auger 1460 in the direction of thearrows 1472 passes out an opening 1476 in the auger housing 1452, theopenings 1476 opening upon the mixing chamber 1434 where the formulapours into the chamber 1434 together with the water from the outlet 1430and the two are thoroughly mixed in a churn 1480 in the bottom end ofthe chamber 1434 in which there is an agitator propeller 1482 driven bya motor 1490. Liquid formula then flows into the tube 1380, a lowerportion of which cannot be seen in FIG. 20, but which can be seen inFIG. 13A and in FIG. 15, whereby the flow of formula enters chutes as isaccomplished in a manner earlier described.

Referring to FIG. 19, a pre-settable control assembly is there showngenerally at 1900 in which power lines 1902 and 1904 come from a sourceof power not shown, and are connected to two terminals 1906 and 1908 ofa hold relay assembly 1910, which latter has two output terminals 1920and 1922 connected to wires 1924 and 1926 respectively, which latter areconnected by leads 1930 each to a terminal of the auger motor 1470, thepump motor 1420 and the mixer motor 1490. The other terminal of each ofthese motors is connected by one of the leads 1494 to the wire 1926.

It is to be understood that the hold relay assembly 1910 may be of anysuitable conventional construction so that it causes power to passthrough its outlet terminals 1920 and 1922 for a given and known timeperiod at each time a control terminal 1950 of the hold relay assembly1910 receives power from power wire 1902 through a switch 1960 by meansof a wire 1964 leading from wire 1902 to the switch 1960 and anotherwire 1970 leading from the switch 1960 to the terminal 1950.

The switch 1960 closes whenever its stationary contact 1976 is engagedby an upwardly and downwardly springing movable contact 1978.

The movable contact 1978 is adapted to be pushed into switch-closingengagement whenever it strikes one of many U- shaped pegs 1980 whichlatter are received in openings 1984 in a liquid formula or liquid feedpeg bar 1988, best seen in FIG. 18.

The peg bar 1988 is elongated and two liquid formula control peg bars1988 and 1990 can be seen in FIG. 17 to be suspended from the hangerframe means 982, earlier described. Some pairs of empty openings 1984can be seen in 1988 in FIG. 17, and it will be understood that emptyopenings are to be used opposite a feed chute 1220 which leads to acompartment in which there is no animal to be fed.

However, in FIG. 17, certain milk formula pegs 1980 are shown in placein the peg bar and if these are disposed in groups of three closelyspaced opposite the position of one of the chutes 1216, then as the milkformula outlet tube 1380 passes by that chute 1216, the switch 1960 ofFIG. 19 will be caused to close, open again, close, and open again, andclose to a total of three closings, thereby delivering three units ofmilk formula to that chute 1216 and its compartment. However, if anoperator should put only two pegs opposite a chute, then that chutewould receive only two units of milk formula. In the case of pigs, aunit of milk formula is one ounce.

For convenience of illustration, pegs are not shown all along the bar1988, but it will be understood that they are used in whatever positionsthey are needed in accordance with the presence of animals and the sizeand appetites of animals in the various compartments.

The peg bar 1988 has holes 1984 in it extending in spaced positions fromone end of the bar to the other.

The bar 1988 serves that row of compartments which are closest to it.The bar 1990 serves those compartments which are on the opposite side ofthe unit and to which it is closest.

Referring to FIG. 18, it will be seen that the switch 1960 is carried ona switch arm 1996 attached to support 1004 so that the am 1996 alwaysextends inwardly to position the switch 1960 above whichever peg bar1988 or 1990 is the closest.

Referring again to FIG. 20, the feed delivery unit 1000 is further seento have a pellet container 2000 attached to the support 1004 and havingan auger assembly 2010 identical in all respects to the auger assembly1460 and driven by a motor 2012 so that the pellets from the container2000 can flow downwardly to the auger 2010 and be pushed out an opening2020 into a large dry pellet conduit 2024.

The conduit 2024 has an outlet 2030 which is disposed in a position forpassing above the chutes 1220 of the upper rows 942 and 952.

However, it is to be noticed that the outlet 1230 is disposed to therearward with respect to the direction of travel of the feed deliveryunit, as indicated by the arrows 2050 of FIGS. 17 and 12, with respectto the liquid formula outlet 1200. The spacing is such that at a timewhen the dry pellet outlet 2030 is disposed above an upper chute 1220,then the liquid feed outlet 1200 would be disposed above a chute 1220 ofthe next lower row 941 or 951. To put it in another way, when, as bestseen in FIG. 13, the dry pellet outlet 2030 is disposed above a chute1220 of the second row 94] or 951, then the liquid outlet 1200 will bedisposed directly above the chute 1220 of one of the lower rows 940 or950. v

This means that a pig will first receive milk formula and then a shorttime later will receive pellets, Both passing through the same chute1220 and into the same trough 1212. If the pig has not finished hisliquid feed, then the mixing of the solid feed with it at the trough1212 is even advantageous.

Referring again to FIG. 20, it will be seen that a dry feed receptacle2160 is disposed spaced vertically beneath the dry feed outlet 2030 tocatch feed therefrom that by-passes any chute 1220 that might not bedisposed therebetween. The dry feed receptacle 2160 leads to a seconddry feed conduit 2372, which latter is adapted to be disposed above achute 1220 seen in FIG. 20 at B and which represents a chute in one ofthe second rows 941 or 951.

Although it is not shown in FIG. 20, it will be understood that a thirdconduit is disposed beneath the second conduit 1272 and has at its upperend a dry feed receptacle 2160 which would be for carrying dry feeddestined for the lowermost rows 940 and 950.

Each dry feed conduit 2372 which is disposed below the uppermost rows ofchutes 1220 seen at A, is supported from support 1004 on a swinging arm2470 which operates in the same way as the arm 1370 and is carried by apivot 2474 extending vertically and attaching it to ear 2476 attached tothe support 1004.

Referring to FIG. 13, it will be seen that the side, top and bottomwalls of each compartment 934 have the majority of their area covered bywire mesh as diagrammatically shown at 2500, the remainer of the meshnot being shown because it would be confusing on this small scale ofdrawing.

In FIG. 21, an alternate wiring diagram is shown for the liquid feed inwhich the power comes through power lines 3002 and 3004 to a hold relay3010, the hold relay having two output terminals 3012 and 3014 connectedto a cam shaft motor 3020 to a cam shaft 3024 having on it four cams3030, 3032, 3034, and 3036, which are respectively a milk formula powdercam 3030 for controlling the timing of the auger motor 1470; a mixer cam3032 for controlling the timing of a mixer motor 1490; a pump can 3034for controlling timing of the pump motor 1420; and a water valve cam3036 controlling timing of a solenoid water valve 3040,best seen in FIG.20, and controlling flow through the water line 1424.

The cam 3030 engages a switch 3050 delivering power from the power line3004 which reaches the switch 3050 through a circuit 3058 to the augermotor 1470 through a wire 3060. The other terminal of the motor 1470 isgrounded by a wire 3062 and the power wire 3002 is grounded at 3070 tocomplete the circuit.

The mixer cam 3032 operates a switch 3074 connecting the circuit 3058with a wire 3076 leading to the mixer motor 1490, the other terminal ofthe mixer motor 1490 being grounded at 1496.

The pump cam 3034 is connected to a switch 3080 which, when closed,connects circuit 3058 with a wire 3084 connected to the pump 1420, theother terminal being grounded at 3090.

The water valve cam 3036 is connected to a switch 3094 which, whenclosed, connects the circuit 3058 with a wire 3096 connected to asolenoid valve 3040, the other terminal of which is grounded by a wire3098.

Power leaving output terminals 3012 and 3014 leaves only for a period oftime controlled by the hold relay 3010, such a time period beginningwhenever a switch 1960 is closed.

In FIG. 22, the wiring diagram for the dry pellets is shown in whichthere are power wires 3002, 3004 connected to a holding relay 4010having outlet terminals 4012,4014 connected to a cam shaft motor 4020 onwhich is a cam 4030 which can be called a dry pellet cam 4030 since itcontrols a switch 4032 which, when closed, connects a circuit 4040attached to power wire 3004 to a wire 4042 leading to the dry pelletmotor 2012 the other terminal of which is grounded at 4050 and powerwire 3002 is grounded at 4052.

The dry pellet peg bar switch 4060 is connected to the power wire 3002and when closed causes the holding relay 4010 to operate because theswitch 4060 is connected by a wire 4062 to the holding relay 4010. Theswitch 4060, as seen in FIG. 18, is actuated by pegs 4070 in one of twodry feed peg bars 4080.

In FIG. 23 an alternate wiring diagram is shown for the liquid feedmechanism in which the power comes through power wires 7000 and 7002connected to a pump holding relay assembly 7006, which latter has anoutput wire 7010 connected to a terminal of the pump motor 1420, theother terminal of the pump motor 1420 being grounded at 7012, and theother output terminal of the pump holding relay assembly 7006 beinggrounded at 7020.

Initiation of operation of the holding relay assembly 7006 is controlledby the switch 1960 shown in FIG. 19, the switch 1960 being connected bya wire 7024 to the power wire 7000. The other terminal of the switch1960 is connected by a wire 7030 and by a wire 7032 to the holding relayassembly 7006 for initiating operation of the latter when the switch1960 is closed.

An auger holding relay assembly 7040 is connected to the power wires7000 and 7002 by wires 7042 and 7044.

The auger hold relay 7040 is connected by an output wire 7048 to oneterminal of the auger motor 1470, the other terminal of the auger motor1470 being connected by a wire 7050 to ground.

The hold relay 7040 has its other output wire 7060 grounded.

The hold relay 7040 is connected by a wire 7062 to the wire 7030.

The mixer hold relay 7080 is connected by power wires 7081 and 7082 tothe power wires 7000 and 7002. An output wire 7088 of the hold relay7080 is connected to a terminal of the mixer motor 1490, the otherterminal of which is grounded by a wire 7090.

The other output wire 7092 of the hold relay 7080 is grounded.

A wire 7096 connects the hold relay 7080 to the wire 7030.

As thus described, in operation the circuit of FIG. 23 has the effect ofinitiating operation of the hold relays 7006, 7 040 and 7080, wheneverthe switch 1960 is closed. Since the hold relays are either designed ona basis of thermal heat build-up or designed on any other conventionalbasis, they have the effect of creating a time delay, such that for eachtime the switch 1960 closes, each of the hold relays puts out powertoward its attached motor 1420, 1470 or 1490 for a given period of time,each hold relay operating for a different desirable period of time.

As thus described when the hold relays of FIG. 23 are used one for eachmotor, the cam motor of FIG. 21 and its cam shaft cams and switches arenot used.

The solenoid valve 3040, shown in FIG. 23, is grounded at 7098 and itsother terminal is connected by a wire 8000 to the wire 7010 so that thevalve 3040 will open whenever the motor 1420 has been energized.

I claim:

1. A pig brooder for simultaneously and substantially automaticallyfeeding to baby pigs 1, 2 and 3 weeks old varying rations of milk solidsand water comprising support means, a plurality of vertically andhorizontally spaced compartments disposed in upper and lower rows, saidcompartments being mounted on said support means, a feed delivery unit,means for supporting said delivery unit relative to said compartments,feed-receiving container means mounted on each said compartment andadapted to receive delivery from said delivery unit, means repeatedlyautomatically moving said delivery unit past one side of saidcompartments, said compartments having feed passage openingstherethrough and said compartments having no openings therethroughduring proper use larger than the head of a baby pig less than one weekold whereby baby pigs cannot fall out, said feed delivery unitdelivering to pre-selected ones of said container means a preselectedquantity of water soluble milk solids suitable for baby pigs less than 3weeks old, said feed delivery unit delivering to pre-selected ones ofsaid container means a preselected quantity of water, supply controllingmeans substantially automatically controlling the supply of said milksolids and water from said feed delivery unit to pre-selected ones ofsaid feed-receiving container means, said feed delivery unit deliveringsaid milk solids and said water in preselected quantities of each withthe quantity supplied to some compartments differing from the quantitysupplied at other compartments, means for intermittently operating saiddelivery unit whereby said containers of said horizontally andvertically disposed compartments are intermittently supplied withpre-selcted varying rations of said milk solids and said water, saiddelivery unit having a feed directing means attached thereto and movingtherewith and having multiple terminal outlet means moving pastrespective compartments of said upper and lower rows, each of saidcontainer means having an open-topped feed catching means disposedbeneath respective terminal outlet means and intermittently receivingmilk solids and water therefrom, said brooder being free of anyimpediment between said outlet positions and receiving portions ofrespective upper and lower compartments which must be manually removedto permit pigs to eat from certain ones of said container means afterfeed has flowed from said feed delivery unit into said certain ones ofsaid container means respectively, each of said container means havingan open-topped portion accessible to pigs inside said compartments fromwhich pigs can feed.

2. The combination of claim 1 further comprising said delivery unithaving mixing means attached thereto and mixing units of said milksolids and water before their delivery to said terminal outlet means.

3. The combination of claim 1 further comprising said feed delivery unithaving a reservoir for containing dry milk solids, output control meansforming a part of said supply controlling means and cooperativelycorrelated with said milk solids reservoir for delivering milk solidstherefrom to said feed directing means,

4. The combination of claim 3 in which said output control meanscomprises a motor and an auger driven by said motor.

5. The combination of claim 1 further comprising said compartments beingarranged in two straight rows and said feed delivery unit moving betweensaid rows, and the outermost parts of the brooder as seen in top planview defining a shape which is much more rectangular than circular forconserving costly floor space.

6. The combination of claim 1 in which said compartment support meanshas legs for engaging a floor and in which said means for supportingsaid delivery unit comprises a horizontal track means, said track meansbeing connected to and upheld by said compartment support means, saiddelivery unit having wheel means engaging and following the top of saidtrack means, and said delivery unit being suspended from said wheelmeans and being disposed substantially beneath said track means andspaced substantially above the bottoms of said legs.

7. The combination of claim 1 further comprising said supply controllingmeans comprising a plurality of pre-settable trip means for controllingthe quantity of milk solids and water to be delivered to a compartmentmeans, trip means holding means mounted on said support means, said tripmeans each being mounted on said trip means holding means in operatingpositions of operable correlation to a respective container means forhelping to supply feed to such container means, trigger means mounted onand moving with said feed delivery unit and operatively correlated withsaid feed delivery unit and with said trip means and engaging respectiveones of said trip means when the latter are in operating position, saidengagement causing said trigger means to be activated as causes saidfeed delivery unit to deliver milk solids to said respective containermeans, said trip means each being movable out of said operatingpositions for making a pre-setting to cause said trigger means not to beactuated thereby, each of said trip means being positionable so that aplurality of said trip means can control flow of milk solids to a singlecompartment so that a selected number of trip means can be preset inoperating position to selectively control the amount of milk solids tobe delivered to that single compartment for feeding pigs of differentages.

8. The combination of claim 7 further comprising said trip means holdingmeans being a bar means with trip means openings therein, said tripmeans being insertable into and removable from said trip means openingsfor support of said trip means.

9. The combination of claim 7 further comprising said means forintermittently operating said delivery unit comprising motor means, asource of power, a switch means forming part of said delivery unit,circuit means connecting said source of power and said motor meansthrough said switch means whereby said switch means controls power tosaid motor means, said trigger means controlling said switch means.

10. The combination of claim 1 in which the interior of the containermeans of one of said compartments is out of communication with theinterior of the container means of adjacent compartments.

11. The combination of claim 1 in which said containers each haveopen-topped portions inside said compartments accessible to pigstherein.

12. The combination of claim 1 in which said feed-receiving meanspresents said feed at a place sufficiently close to the floor of saidcompartments that pigs in said compartments less than 1 week old canreach said feed-receiving means and eat the feed therefrom.

13. A pig brooder for simultaneously and substantially automaticallyfeeding to baby pigs 1, 2 and 3 weeks old varying rations of liquidcomprising support means, a plurality of vertically and horizontallyspaced compartments disposed in upper and lower rows, said compartmentsbeing mounted on said support means, a feed delivery unit, means forsupporting said delivery unit relative to said compartments,feed-receiving container means mounted on each said compartment andadapted to receive delivery from said delivery unit, means repeatedlymoving said delivery unit automatically past one side of saidcompartments, said compartments having feed passage openingstherethrough and said compartments having no openings therethroughduring proper use larger than the head of a baby pig less than 1 weekold whereby baby pigs cannot fall out, said feed delivery unitdelivering to pre-selected ones of said container means a pre-selectedquantity of liquid consumable by baby pigs less than 3 weeks old, supplycontrolling means substantially automatically controlling the supply ofsaid liquid from said feed delivery unit to pre-selected ones of saidfeed-receiving container means, said feed delivery unit delivering saidliquid in pre-selected quantities with the quantity supplied to somecompartments differing from the quantity supplied at other compartments,means for intermittently operating said delivery unit whereby saidcontainers of said horizontally and vertically disposed compartments areintermittently supplied with said pre-selected varying rations ofliquid, said delivery unit having a feed directing means attachedthereto and moving therewith and having multiple terminal outlets meansmoving past respective compartments of said upper and lower rows, eachof said container means having an open-topped feed catching meansdisposed beneath respective terminal outlet means and intermittentlyreceiving said liquid therefrom, said brooder being free of anyimpediment between said terminal outlet positions and receiving portionsof respective upper and lower compartments which must be manuallyremoved to permit pigs to eat from certain ones of said container meansafter feed has flowed from said feed delivery unit into said certainones of said container means respectively, each of said container meanshaving an opentopped portion accessible to pigs inside said compartmentsfrom which pigs can feed.

14. The combination of claim 13 further comprising said supplycontrolling means comprising a plurality of presettable trip means forcontrolling the quantity of liquid to be delivered to a compartmentmeans, trip means holding means mounted on said support means, said tripmeans each being mounted on said trip means holding means in operatingpositions of operable correlation to a respective container means forhelping to supply feed to such container means, trigger means mounted onand moving with said feed delivery unit and operatively correlated withsaid feed delivery unit and with said trip means and engaging respectiveones of said trip means when the latter are in operating position, saidengagement causing said trigger means to be activated as causes saidfeed delivery unit to deliver liquid to said respective container means,said trip means each being movable out of said operating positions formaking a pre-setting to cause said trigger means not to be actuatedthereby, each of said trip means being positionable so that a pluralityof said trip means can control flow of liquid to a single compartment sothat a selected number of trip means can be preset in operating positionto selectively control the amount of liquid to be delivered to thatsingle compartment for feeding pigs of different ages.

15. The combination of claim 14 further comprising said trip meansholding means being a bar means with trip means openings therein, saidtrip means being insertable into and removable from said trip meansopenings for support of said trip means.

16. The combination of claim 14 further comprising said means forintermittently operating said delivery unit being operated by motormeans, a source of power, a switch means forming part of said deliveryunit, circuit means connecting said source of power and said motor meansthrough said switch means whereby said switch means controls power tosaid motor means, said trigger means controlling said switch means.

17. The combination of claim 13 in which said compartment support meanshas legs for engaging a floor and in which said means for supportingsaid delivery unit comprises a horizontal track means, said track meansbeing connected to and upheld by said compartment support means, saiddelivery unit having wheel means engaging and following the top of saidtrack means, and said delivery unit being suspended from said'wheelmeans and being disposed substantially beneath said track means andspaced substantially above the bottoms of said legs.

18. An animal feeder comprising support means, a plurality of verticallyand horizontally spaced compartments disposed in upper and lower rows,said compartments being connected to said support means, a feed deliveryunit, means for supporting said delivery unit relative to saidcompartments, feedreceiving means connected to each said compartment,and adapted to receive feed from said delivery unit, means forcontinuously moving said delivery unit past said compartments, means forcontrolling the supply of feed from said delivery unit to said feedreceiving means, and means for intermittently operating said deliveryunit whereby said horizontally and vertically disposed compartments aresequentially supplied with feed, said delivery unit having a feed outletmoving therewith and attached thereto, said feed outlet moving alongsaid upper and lower rows of compartments and in which said receivingmeans comprises containers disposed one at each compartment, each saidcontainer having at least a portion disposed outside of its compartment,said outside portion having an open top section disposed beneath andintermittently receiving feed from said outlet, the containers in saidupper row of compartments being disposed substantially in a rowgenerally parallel to their said compartment row, and the containers insaid lower row of compartments also being disposed substantially in arow generally parallel to said top row containers, a receptacle attachedto said feed delivery unit and moving therewith along said one side ofsaid rows of compartments, said receptacle being spaced beneath saidoutlet whereby at certain times when the said outside portion of one ofthe containers in said upper row of compartments is not disposed beneathand in the path of feed from said outlet, then at such certain timesfeed flowing from said outlet will fall by gravity downward into saidreceptacle, and a conduit in communication with the bottom of saidreceptacle and extending downwardly into a position disposed directlyabove the outside portion of one of the containers of said lower row atsuch certain times of feed delivery.

19. The combination of claim 18 in which a pre-settable means isoperatively correlated with said delivery unit for causing a flow offeed from said outlet, said pre-settable means being settable fordelivery of feed to a container in said lower row at said certain times.

20. An animal feeder comprising support means, a plurality of spacedcompartments connected to said support means, a feed delivery unit,means for supporting said delivery unit relative to said compartments,feed-receiving means connected to each said compartment and adapted toreceive feed from said delivery unit, means for continuously moving saiddelivery unit past said compartments, means for controlling the supplyof feed from said delivery unit to said feed-receiving means, and meansfor intermittently operating said delivery unit whereby saidcompartments are sequentially supplied with feed, said delivery unitmounting and propulsion means comprising a horizontally extending trackmeans, said track means having a generally horizontally extending upperside and having two opposite downwardly extending sides, said upper sidehaving two opposite edges, a pulley having an annular circumferentialrecess therein, the side walls of said recess having a tapering shape ina cross section taken along a plane extending through the axis of saidpulley wheel and being more widely spaced at their outer ends than attheir inner ends, and the spacing of said side walls at the outerportions of said pulley side walls being greater than the spacing of thesides of said track means and the spacing of said pulley side walls attheir inner portions being substantially lesser than the spacing ofupper edges of the sides of said track means whereby as said pulleyrolls along said track means it will grip said track means firmly andimpinge thereon giving good traction, said delivery unit having adelivery unit supporting means extending downwardly from and rotatablyattached to said pulley whereby the weight of said delivery unit tendsto press said pulley against said track means.

21. The combination of claim 20 in which said delivery unit supportingmeans has a pair of horizontally spaced stabilizing pulleys attachedrotatably thereto for rotation about vertical axes, said stabilizingpulleys being spaced downwardly from said drive pulley and engagingopposite side walls of said track means respectively.

22. A liquid animal feeder as defined in claim 18 including heatingmeans operably connected to said delivery unit whereby the temperatureof the feed at said delivery unit is maintained at a substantiallyconstant temperature.

23. An animal feeder comprising support means, a plurality of spacedcompartments mounted on said support means, each said compartment havingopenings formed therein of a size less than the size of the heads ofanimals adapted to be disposed in each said compartment, a feed deliveryunit, means for supporting said feed delivery unit relative to saidcompartments, feed-receiving means connected to said compartments andconstructed and arranged to direct feed received from said delivery unitinto said compartments, means for moving the feed delivery unit pastsaid compartments, means for controlling the supply of feed from saidfeed delivery unit to said feed-receiving means, and means forintermittently operating said feed delivery unit whereby saidcompartments are sequentially supplied with feed, said feed deliveryunit includes a compartment for receiving a dry feed material, achamber, an auger for directing the dry feed material from said deliveryunit compartment into said chamber, means for introducing a liquid intosaid chamber, and means for mixing the liquid and dry material toprovide a liquid food which is subsequently supplied to saidfeed-receiving means.

24. An animal feeder as defined in claim 23 including a second chamberadapted to receive a dry feed material, and means for directing the dryfeed material into a conduit which is constructed and arranged to directthe material into said feed receiving means.

25. The combination of claim 13 in which said delivery unit has a sourceof said liquid thereon, all of the said multiple terminal outlet meanswhich deliver said liquid receiving said liquid indirectly from saidsource.

26. The combination of claim 1 in which said delivery unit has a sourceof said milk solids thereon, all of the said multiple terminal outletmeans which deliver said milk solids receiving said milk solidsindirectly from said source.

27. The combination of claim 13 in which said feed delivery unit movespast said compartments continuously.

1. A pig brooder for simultaneously and substantially automaticallyfeeding to baby pigs 1, 2 and 3 weeks old varying rations of milk solidsand water comprising support means, a plurality of vertically andhorizontally spaced compartments disposed in upper and lower rows, saidcompartments being mounted on said support means, a feed delivery unit,means for supporting said delivery unit relative to said compartments,feed-receiving container means mounted on each said compartment andadapted to receive delivery from said delivery unit, means repeatedlyautomatically moving said delivery unit past one side of saidcompartments, said compartments having feed passage openingstherethrough and said compartments having no openings therethroughduring proper use larger than the head of a baby pig less than one weekold whereby baby pigs cannot fall out, said feed delivery unitdelivering to pre-selected ones of said container means a pre-selectedquantity of water soluble milk solids suitable for baby pigs less than 3weeks old, said feed delivery unit delivering to pre-selected ones ofsaid container means a preselected quantity of water, supply controllingmeans substantially automatically controlling the supply of said milksolids and water from said feed delivery unit to pre-selected ones ofsaid feed-receiving container means, said feed delivery unit deliveringsaid milk solids and said water in preselected quantities of each withthe quantity supplied to some compartments differing from the quantitysupplied at other compartments, means for intermittently operating saiddelivery unit whereby said containers of said horizontally andvertically disposed compartments are intermittently supplied withpreselcted varying rations of said milk solids and said water, saiddelivery unit having a feed directing means attached thereto and movingtherewith and having multiple terminal outlet means moving pastrespective compartments of said upper and lower rows, each of saidcontainer means having an open-topped feed catching means disposedbeneath respective terminal outlet means and intermittently receivingmilk solids and water therefrom, said brooder being free of anyimpediment between said outlet positions and receiving portions ofrespective upper and lower compartments which must be manually removedto permit pigs to eat from certain ones of said container means afterfeed has flowed from said feed delivery unit into said certain ones ofsaid container means respectively, each of said container means havingan open-topped portion accessible to pigs inside said compartments fromwhich pigs can feed.
 2. The combination of claim 1 further comprisingsaid delivery unit having mixing means attached thereto and mixing unitsof said milk solids and water before their delivery to said terminaloutlet means.
 3. The combination of claim 1 further comprising said feeddelivery unit having a reservoir for containing dry milk solids, outputcontrol means forming a part of said supply controlling means andcooperatively correlated with said milk solids reservoir for deliveringmilk solids therefrom to said feed directing means.
 4. The combinationof claim 3 in which said output control means comprises a motor and anauger driven by said motor.
 5. The combination of claim 1 furthercomprising said compartments being arranged in two straight rows andsaid feed delivery unit moving between said rows, and the outermostparts of the brooder as seen in top plan view defining a shape which ismuch more rectangular than circular for conserving costly floor space.6. The combination of claim 1 in which said compartment support meanshas legs for engaging a floor and in which said means for supportingsaid delivery unit comprises a horizontal track means, said track meansbeing connected to and upheld by said compartment support means, saiddelivery unit having wheel means engaging and following the top of saidtrack means, and said delivery unit being suspended from said wheelmeans and being disposed substantially beneath said track means andspaced substantially above the bottoms of said legs.
 7. The combinationof claim 1 further comprising said supply controlling means comprisiNg aplurality of pre-settable trip means for controlling the quantity ofmilk solids and water to be delivered to a compartment means, trip meansholding means mounted on said support means, said trip means each beingmounted on said trip means holding means in operating positions ofoperable correlation to a respective container means for helping tosupply feed to such container means, trigger means mounted on and movingwith said feed delivery unit and operatively correlated with said feeddelivery unit and with said trip means and engaging respective ones ofsaid trip means when the latter are in operating position, saidengagement causing said trigger means to be activated as causes saidfeed delivery unit to deliver milk solids to said respective containermeans, said trip means each being movable out of said operatingpositions for making a pre-setting to cause said trigger means not to beactuated thereby, each of said trip means being positionable so that aplurality of said trip means can control flow of milk solids to a singlecompartment so that a selected number of trip means can be preset inoperating position to selectively control the amount of milk solids tobe delivered to that single compartment for feeding pigs of differentages.
 8. The combination of claim 7 further comprising said trip meansholding means being a bar means with trip means openings therein, saidtrip means being insertable into and removable from said trip meansopenings for support of said trip means.
 9. The combination of claim 7further comprising said means for intermittently operating said deliveryunit comprising motor means, a source of power, a switch means formingpart of said delivery unit, circuit means connecting said source ofpower and said motor means through said switch means whereby said switchmeans controls power to said motor means, said trigger means controllingsaid switch means.
 10. The combination of claim 1 in which the interiorof the container means of one of said compartments is out ofcommunication with the interior of the container means of adjacentcompartments.
 11. The combination of claim 1 in which said containerseach have open-topped portions inside said compartments accessible topigs therein.
 12. The combination of claim 1 in which saidfeed-receiving means presents said feed at a place sufficiently close tothe floor of said compartments that pigs in said compartments less than1 week old can reach said feed-receiving means and eat the feedtherefrom.
 13. A pig brooder for simultaneously and substantiallyautomatically feeding to baby pigs 1, 2 and 3 weeks old varying rationsof liquid comprising support means, a plurality of vertically andhorizontally spaced compartments disposed in upper and lower rows, saidcompartments being mounted on said support means, a feed delivery unit,means for supporting said delivery unit relative to said compartments,feed-receiving container means mounted on each said compartment andadapted to receive delivery from said delivery unit, means repeatedlymoving said delivery unit automatically past one side of saidcompartments, said compartments having feed passage openingstherethrough and said compartments having no openings therethroughduring proper use larger than the head of a baby pig less than 1 weekold whereby baby pigs cannot fall out, said feed delivery unitdelivering to pre-selected ones of said container means a pre-selectedquantity of liquid consumable by baby pigs less than 3 weeks old, supplycontrolling means substantially automatically controlling the supply ofsaid liquid from said feed delivery unit to pre-selected ones of saidfeed-receiving container means, said feed delivery unit delivering saidliquid in pre-selected quantities with the quantity supplied to somecompartments differing from the quantity supplied at other compartments,means for intermittently operating said delivery unit whereby saidcontainers of said horizontally and vertically disPosed compartments areintermittently supplied with said pre-selected varying rations ofliquid, said delivery unit having a feed directing means attachedthereto and moving therewith and having multiple terminal outlets meansmoving past respective compartments of said upper and lower rows, eachof said container means having an open-topped feed catching meansdisposed beneath respective terminal outlet means and intermittentlyreceiving said liquid therefrom, said brooder being free of anyimpediment between said terminal outlet positions and receiving portionsof respective upper and lower compartments which must be manuallyremoved to permit pigs to eat from certain ones of said container meansafter feed has flowed from said feed delivery unit into said certainones of said container means respectively, each of said container meanshaving an open-topped portion accessible to pigs inside saidcompartments from which pigs can feed.
 14. The combination of claim 13further comprising said supply controlling means comprising a pluralityof presettable trip means for controlling the quantity of liquid to bedelivered to a compartment means, trip means holding means mounted onsaid support means, said trip means each being mounted on said tripmeans holding means in operating positions of operable correlation to arespective container means for helping to supply feed to such containermeans, trigger means mounted on and moving with said feed delivery unitand operatively correlated with said feed delivery unit and with saidtrip means and engaging respective ones of said trip means when thelatter are in operating position, said engagement causing said triggermeans to be activated as causes said feed delivery unit to deliverliquid to said respective container means, said trip means each beingmovable out of said operating positions for making a pre-setting tocause said trigger means not to be actuated thereby, each of said tripmeans being positionable so that a plurality of said trip means cancontrol flow of liquid to a single compartment so that a selected numberof trip means can be preset in operating position to selectively controlthe amount of liquid to be delivered to that single compartment forfeeding pigs of different ages.
 15. The combination of claim 14 furthercomprising said trip means holding means being a bar means with tripmeans openings therein, said trip means being insertable into andremovable from said trip means openings for support of said trip means.16. The combination of claim 14 further comprising said means forintermittently operating said delivery unit being operated by motormeans, a source of power, a switch means forming part of said deliveryunit, circuit means connecting said source of power and said motor meansthrough said switch means whereby said switch means controls power tosaid motor means, said trigger means controlling said switch means. 17.The combination of claim 13 in which said compartment support means haslegs for engaging a floor and in which said means for supporting saiddelivery unit comprises a horizontal track means, said track means beingconnected to and upheld by said compartment support means, said deliveryunit having wheel means engaging and following the top of said trackmeans, and said delivery unit being suspended from said wheel means andbeing disposed substantially beneath said track means and spacedsubstantially above the bottoms of said legs.
 18. An animal feedercomprising support means, a plurality of vertically and horizontallyspaced compartments disposed in upper and lower rows, said compartmentsbeing connected to said support means, a feed delivery unit, means forsupporting said delivery unit relative to said compartments,feed-receiving means connected to each said compartment, and adapted toreceive feed from said delivery unit, means for continuously moving saiddelivery unit past said compartments, means for controlling the supplyof feed from said delivery unit to said feed reCeiving means, and meansfor intermittently operating said delivery unit whereby saidhorizontally and vertically disposed compartments are sequentiallysupplied with feed, said delivery unit having a feed outlet movingtherewith and attached thereto, said feed outlet moving along said upperand lower rows of compartments and in which said receiving meanscomprises containers disposed one at each compartment, each saidcontainer having at least a portion disposed outside of its compartment,said outside portion having an open top section disposed beneath andintermittently receiving feed from said outlet, the containers in saidupper row of compartments being disposed substantially in a rowgenerally parallel to their said compartment row, and the containers insaid lower row of compartments also being disposed substantially in arow generally parallel to said top row containers, a receptacle attachedto said feed delivery unit and moving therewith along said one side ofsaid rows of compartments, said receptacle being spaced beneath saidoutlet whereby at certain times when the said outside portion of one ofthe containers in said upper row of compartments is not disposed beneathand in the path of feed from said outlet, then at such certain timesfeed flowing from said outlet will fall by gravity downward into saidreceptacle, and a conduit in communication with the bottom of saidreceptacle and extending downwardly into a position disposed directlyabove the outside portion of one of the containers of said lower row atsuch certain times of feed delivery.
 19. The combination of claim 18 inwhich a pre-settable means is operatively correlated with said deliveryunit for causing a flow of feed from said outlet, said pre-settablemeans being settable for delivery of feed to a container in said lowerrow at said certain times.
 20. An animal feeder comprising supportmeans, a plurality of spaced compartments connected to said supportmeans, a feed delivery unit, means for supporting said delivery unitrelative to said compartments, feed-receiving means connected to eachsaid compartment and adapted to receive feed from said delivery unit,means for continuously moving said delivery unit past said compartments,means for controlling the supply of feed from said delivery unit to saidfeed-receiving means, and means for intermittently operating saiddelivery unit whereby said compartments are sequentially supplied withfeed, said delivery unit mounting and propulsion means comprising ahorizontally extending track means, said track means having a generallyhorizontally extending upper side and having two opposite downwardlyextending sides, said upper side having two opposite edges, a pulleyhaving an annular circumferential recess therein, the side walls of saidrecess having a tapering shape in a cross section taken along a planeextending through the axis of said pulley wheel and being more widelyspaced at their outer ends than at their inner ends, and the spacing ofsaid side walls at the outer portions of said pulley side walls beinggreater than the spacing of the sides of said track means and thespacing of said pulley side walls at their inner portions beingsubstantially lesser than the spacing of upper edges of the sides ofsaid track means whereby as said pulley rolls along said track means itwill grip said track means firmly and impinge thereon giving goodtraction, said delivery unit having a delivery unit supporting meansextending downwardly from and rotatably attached to said pulley wherebythe weight of said delivery unit tends to press said pulley against saidtrack means.
 21. The combination of claim 20 in which said delivery unitsupporting means has a pair of horizontally spaced stabilizing pulleysattached rotatably thereto for rotation about vertical axes, saidstabilizing pulleys being spaced downwardly from said drive pulley andengaging opposite side walls of said track means respectively.
 22. Aliquid animal feeder as defined in claim 18 includinG heating meansoperably connected to said delivery unit whereby the temperature of thefeed at said delivery unit is maintained at a substantially constanttemperature.
 23. An animal feeder comprising support means, a pluralityof spaced compartments mounted on said support means, each saidcompartment having openings formed therein of a size less than the sizeof the heads of animals adapted to be disposed in each said compartment,a feed delivery unit, means for supporting said feed delivery unitrelative to said compartments, feed-receiving means connected to saidcompartments and constructed and arranged to direct feed received fromsaid delivery unit into said compartments, means for moving the feeddelivery unit past said compartments, means for controlling the supplyof feed from said feed delivery unit to said feed-receiving means, andmeans for intermittently operating said feed delivery unit whereby saidcompartments are sequentially supplied with feed, said feed deliveryunit includes a compartment for receiving a dry feed material, achamber, an auger for directing the dry feed material from said deliveryunit compartment into said chamber, means for introducing a liquid intosaid chamber, and means for mixing the liquid and dry material toprovide a liquid food which is subsequently supplied to saidfeed-receiving means.
 24. An animal feeder as defined in claim 23including a second chamber adapted to receive a dry feed material, andmeans for directing the dry feed material into a conduit which isconstructed and arranged to direct the material into said feed receivingmeans.
 25. The combination of claim 13 in which said delivery unit has asource of said liquid thereon, all of the said multiple terminal outletmeans which deliver said liquid receiving said liquid indirectly fromsaid source.
 26. The combination of claim 1 in which said delivery unithas a source of said milk solids thereon, all of the said multipleterminal outlet means which deliver said milk solids receiving said milksolids indirectly from said source.
 27. The combination of claim 13 inwhich said feed delivery unit moves past said compartments continuously.